


Double Dog Dare Ya

by CavannaRose



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Robbery, Theft, Thief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 12:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13717608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavannaRose/pseuds/CavannaRose
Summary: Vex performs a small job, because someone said she couldn't.





	Double Dog Dare Ya

The thief known only as Vex padded through the shadows on silent feet. Shor's Stone wasn't her favourite place for a job, but it was where she had been sent, and the slender Imperial always did her duty. She paused, hovering low in the brush as a pair of inattentive guards made their way past, torches held aloft as they complained about the lack of mead in town lately. She barely allowed herself the distraction of a snide smile, moving further back with liquid steps to remain within the shadows that the torchlight sent dancing erratically across the ground.

When they had finally passed, she moved onwards again until she reached the Blacksmith's house. Lithe musculature flexed as the thief shimmied up the closest post to the roof, crouching in the thatch to listen once more for movement. The guards continued along their circular path, no hint that they may have noticed anything out of the ordinary. As Vex pressed her body lower against the thickly-woven roofing, she heard the distinctive sound of a man snoring in the room below, Filnjar was home, but asleep. Quiet as an Argonian whorehouse in Alinor, she dug her way through the rough thatch until she could feel the timbers of the roof beneath her hands.

Just as she had suspected, the planks that held the thatch had warped and cracked in Skyrim's endless snow. Clever hands with a surprising amount of strength pried carefully at the wood, timing each movement with the hollow rasps from the sleeping Nord within. It didn't take long to make a large enough space to let her through, and in two shakes of a sabrecat's tail she was landing soundlessly on the floor, mere inches from the slumbering Smith. Immediately Vex froze, counting slowly to ten in her head before creeping across the floor to the stairs leading down.

The lower room was sparse in both furnishings and decor in comparison to the room above, making it easy for the Imperial to spot her target. In the far corner of the room was a plain chest beside a wardrobe. Holding her breath she quietly crossed the bare stone floor, squatting in front of the chest. Lightly she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet as she pulled a lockpick from the twist of hair tucked behind her ear, listening to the tumblers click into place one by one, easy as stealing sweetrolls. She released the anxious breath she had been holding as the chest opened without a creak. Bless blacksmiths and their well-oiled hinges.

She rummaged through the fancy tunics and dusty potion bottles until her hand closed around what she had come for. Withdrawing the large gem, she let a covetous smile cross her face, before tucking the gem into her cleavage and wiping the expression away as if it had never been there in the first place. Closing and locking the safe again, she paused.

The snoring from above had gone silent. Mentally cursing herself for getting distracted, she pulled open the wardrobe and slid inside, mentally plotting her escape route should she be found. Soon the sound of heavy steps echoed down the stairs, followed by shuffling noises. Vex couldn't be sure, but she was fairly certain Filnjar was fidgeting with items at the table near the stairs. The clinking of a small bag of coins could be heard, followed by a loud yawn and a belch, before the blacksmith's footsteps once again sounded on the steps.

Releasing her breath as silently as possible, Vex cracked the wardrobe door open, examining the room to ensure it was, in fact, empty again. Satisfied as to her sole occupancy, she slid out and made her way to the stairs, crouching near the bottom as she listened to the sounds up above. It sounded like the blacksmith was preparing his morning meal, so Vex hunkered low by the stairs, listening for her moment. Finally everything quieted above, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. The thief began to count. When she made it to 100 for the ninth time she decided she had waited long enough and headed up the steps. She paused at the door, pressing her full body against the wood and listening. Hearing nothing suspicious she crouched low once more, slowly opening the door, and slipping out into the early morning light.

She could hear Filnjar at his forge, mere steps to the right from where she slowly rose to her full height. To her left, the warm glow of the guard's torches was beginning to draw near. Making some lightning-quick calculations she came to a decision, dashing left, and then left once more, disappearing around the side of the smith's house just as the guards would have come into view. Staying low she ran to the foothills where her horse was hobbled, happily munching on grass. cutting the hobble-ropes she swung up onto his back, aiming him at Riften.

And Delvin didn't believe she could do it. Hah.


End file.
